Back Through the Glass
by fiddle child
Summary: Hatter found Alice after she had returned from Wonderland, but he never did show up at her apartment the next day. A week later, Alice can't get her mind off him. Not all is well in Wonderland. First chapter fiction, so feedback is appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I sadly own NONE of these characters, they belong to SyFy

* * *

Alice was tired. She had gotten back from the hospital earlier that week, after which she had forced herself to put away everything from the search for her father. She now knew where her father had been since she was ten – she had her closure. Carol noticed Alice's sudden need to clean house, but decided not to comment on it for the moment. Her daughter clearly had something else on her mind.

That something had a name – Hatter.

Alice laid on her bed staring at the ceiling, attempting to get a little rest, but she couldn't get the eccentric man out of her head. She missed the other people she had met in Wonderland, particularly Charlie, the befuddled but lovable White Knight, but leaving Hatter behind felt like something else entirely. He was interesting, charming when he felt like it, brave, and surprisingly kind. Alice had only realized too late how exactly she felt about him, and she wasn't at all sure if those feelings were reciprocated. Judging from his distant goodbye when she left, Alice was pretty certain he could live perfectly well without her. She'd wanted to show him how she felt at the looking glass but lost her nerve at the last moment. Now it seemed too late to do anything about Hatter.

She must have eventually drifted off, because Alice suddenly snapped awake. Normally she was pretty groggy if she woke up in the middle of the night, but right now she was completely alert. She felt a sense of urgency, almost as if someone had called her name. Confused and a bit on edge, Alice slid off her bed and went to look out her window. She grabbed a blanket as she went and wrapped herself in it before settling down in front of the large bay window. She always enjoyed looking out at the city, so full of life at any hour of the day or night. Usually gazing out into the night usually calmed her, but tonight it only made her feel more agitated than ever. Her mind kept turning traitorously back to Hatter. She tried to get him off her mind, but it was no use. Every time she managed it for a moment, he would slip back into her thoughts. She found herself wondering how Hatter would like New York, if he would like living here. Alice groaned, telling herself these ideas were ridiculous. Hatter would never leave Wonderland. It was his home.

An hour later, Alice decided that she should just try getting some sleep again. But first she needed a glass of water. She quickly walked into the bathroom and reached for the glass that she kept on the shelf by the mirror. Filling it up, she gulped the water down then took a look in the mirror before she turned off the light.

She found herself staring at Hatter.

Shock paralyzed her as Alice watched the scene play out in front of her. _Hatter was hurrying through the construction site that housed the looking glass. Something obviously had him on edge. His eyes darted back and forth, peering into the gloom. Just as he reached the mirror, a dozen suits stepped out from the shadows and surrounded him. Hatter had no time to react. Within seconds, they grabbed him and dragged him through the mirror._

_The scenery changed in a blur, the construction site morphing into an unfamiliar room. The mostly black-and-white room had an incredibly high ceiling supported by twisting striped columns. Suits and gaudily dressed people, whom Alice could only imagine to be the Wonderland nobility, stood around the periphery. Hatter was on his knees in the center of the room with his hands bound behind his back. A dais sat at one end supporting an enormous red throne. A throne that Jack Heart was sitting on._

_Alice couldn't hear anything that was happening, but both men were clearly furious. Jack was speaking, anger and arrogance distorting his usually handsome features. Hatter kept his mouth shut, but Alice could tell that he wanted to lose it completely. For some reason though he stayed silent, glaring at Jack the entire time he spoke. Finally Jack stopped talking and simply sat, staring Hatter down, waiting for him to speak. _

Alice wanted to call out to Hatter, to tell him to rein it in and not tell Jack whatever he was clearly holding back. It wasn't that she didn't want anyone to hurt Jack's feelings. She was only worried about what he could do to Hatter, who was already bleeding from a cut somewhere on his scalp. But Alice couldn't even move, let alone yell, though he couldn't have heard her. A heavy feeling pressed down on her, putting her in a kind of trance.

_And, Hatter being Hatter, he told Jack exactly what he thought._

_Jack was clearly not amused by whatever Hatter had expressed, considering that his next move was to jump up from his seat, walk down to Hatter, and backhand him. _

_Immediately suits moved to drag Hatter back and towards the door. Before he was out of sight, Alice saw him struggling against the guards. Then one enterprising fellow kicked Hatter viciously in the ribs. He slumped to the floor and was dragged across the red-and-white tile floor and disappeared behind slamming double doors. _

Immediately the mirror cleared and Alice felt lighter, like she could breath again. But her knees buckled underneath her from the shock of what she had just seen. As she crouched on the floor, the images flickered across her vision, always surging forward to Hatter. Hatter, unconscious, injured, being dragged away. All by Jack's orders.

After a few minutes, Alice forced herself to get up. She was still shaking – she felt like throwing up every time she saw Hatter bleeding, the suit kicking him – but she had to get out of this bathroom, she had to do something. She wasn't quite sure what yet, but plans could be figured out later. However, she was well aware of one fact – Alice would have to go back to Wonderland.

* * *

Tearing open her wardrobe, Alice began searching for something suitable to wear to Wonderland. There was no way she was going the dress and heels route again, even if Hatter seemed to appreciate the sight of her in her blue mini. _"Do I need a reason to help a pretty girl in a very wet dress?" _Even though she'd been offended at the time, Hatter's remark now made her smile.

Finally Alice found her favorite raspberry colored jeans and pulled on a light blue shirt, throwing on her dark brown leather jacket over it. She stopped for a second, realizing that this was exactly what she'd been wearing before the dinner with Jack. She felt a stab of pain at that but did her best to shake it off. She had Hatter now. Besides, Alice reasoned, it was the outfit she was most comfortable in and was vastly superior to running around Wonderland in tights again.

Alice also stopped and grabbed her small leather backpack. She had to travel lightly, but she was determined to be better prepared for this trip than the last. Finally she decided that a few bottles of water, some granola bars, pepper spray, and a pocketknife were going with her. She felt confident in her abilities as a black belt, but her last trip through the Looking Glass had taught her to be wary.

Pausing in the kitchen, Alice wrote her mother a note, explaining that she had to make some work related calls and would probably be gone all day. Luckily she had mentioned that she was going to try to get back into the swing of things earlier that day. Her mother hadn't been pleased but had tried to be understanding. Since she was leaving in the middle of the night, Alice figured that she would have plenty of time in Wonderland to rescue Hatter, seeing as time appeared to run faster there.

Glancing around the apartment, Alice hoped that she wasn't making a huge mistake. Before she talked herself out of it however, Alice shut the door behind her and made her way to the warehouse in a matter of minutes. She found the mirror with ease, seeing as it was the only thing really in there. Here Alice paused again, sudden dread of what she would find on the other side of the mirror washing over her. But she told herself that Jack would listen to her, he would _have_ to listen to her.

Then Alice took a deep breath and went through the Looking Glass for a second time.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Still don't own any of these characters. Credit goes to Lewis Carroll and SyFy

A/N: To everyone who reviewed/favorited/added this story to your alerts – you guys are amazing!

* * *

Alice landed on hard marble this time. _Much less forgiving than the grass_, she thought with annoyance, _but at least it's not concrete_. She picked herself up carefully from the floor, quickly mentally checking for injuries. However, Alice was basically unharmed, although she was sure she'd have a few large bruises by the evening. The question now was where she actually was.

With some surprise, Alice found that she was actually in the mirror hall itself. She briefly wondered why she hadn't landed here after the last trip instead of an abandoned building, but she decided not to worry about it at the moment. More importantly, where was everyone else? The last time Alice had been in this room, the hall had been filled with people and suits. It made no sense now to have the portal to Wonderland left abandoned. Not that everything in Wonderland always made the most sense, but this seemed too strange. Which put Alice on her guard. She started to hurry to the doors on the opposite side of the room, which was feeling emptier with each passing second.

A shout echoed through the hall moments later. Alice whirled around to face her attacker but quickly recognized the figure standing in the doorway. Relief made her feel slightly unbalanced for a few seconds.

"Charlie! I was hoping to see someone familiar soon." She threw herself at the knight, enveloping him in a hug. Alice found somewhat to her surprise that she really had missed the old knight terribly. "Where is everyone anyway?" she questioned. "This place feels like a ghost town."

Stepping back, Alice noticed that Charlie had an unusually somber expression. He reached out and placed his hand on Alice's shoulder. "My lady, everything has not been well in Wonderland since you left."

"I don't understand, Charlie. What's happening? I thought the Queen had been imprisoned and Jack is now the King. Shouldn't things be going better now at least?" Alice had a growing sense that something was terribly off.

Charlie sighed. "Alas, Jack himself is not… well, either. I do not think you would like what you saw if you spoke to him now."

Alice narrowed her eyes. "Not well? Charlie, can you please just tell me what you're talking about?"

"Jack is not himself. He has changed drastically in the two months since he ascended to the throne so that even those closest to him do not recognize him. Everyone is uneasy, frightened even, as he has become harsher than the Queen ever was when dealing out punishment to those who do not bow to his will. The people are suffering, and anyone that protests his actions are…. silenced." Charlie let his voice drift off rather ominously.

Charlie's words shocked Alice but also brought back to mind why she was even here. "Charlie, where's Hatter? I need to see him." Alice could hear her voice shaking but didn't particularly care at the moment.

The knight looked down at the floor.

"Jack has him, doesn't he."

Charlie dragged his eyes back to Alice, simply saying "No one has heard from him since Jack forcibly took him back from your world."

With that, Alice knew beyond a doubt that Hatter had been the worker who had found her and taken her to the hospital. She could very well owe her life to the man. "I'm going after him, Charlie."

He mustered a sad smile for Alice, knowing that she could not be persuaded once she had set her mind to a course of action. "Naturally, my dear. Just be careful. And if you ever need a place to stay, my old camp is always open to you. You remember the way there?"

Alice nodded her head and hugged the knight once again. "I won't mention this to Jack, don't want to get you in trouble in case he gets angry at me."

Charlie quickly told Alice how to get to the palace, and then Alice left to go confront Jack.

* * *

Alice made it to the palace with no problems, nobody bothering her. In fact, she hardly saw anyone at all. Not that this was so different from her last trip into Wonderland, but the city seemed even more still than last time. Getting into the palace was much easier than Alice had thought. Nobody really appeared to be guarding the front doors – Wonderlanders were freely walking in and out. However, all of them seemed quiet hurried, as though they were trying not to be noticed. Alice took a deep breath, straightened her back, and simply strode in. She let herself smile, feeling relieved. Perhaps things wouldn't be as awful as Charlie pictured after all. He could be a bit prone to exaggeration anyway... and with these optimistic thoughts Alice began looking for the throne room.

It wasn't difficult. In attempting to blend in with the flow of foot traffic, Alice found herself walking right past a set of ornate, crimson red double doors with suits stationed outside. A particularly pompous-looking club stood outside, refusing to let anyone in until there was a break in the King's agenda. Alice definitely didn't want to talk to him, so she ducked around the corner. She supposed that she could just wait outside in the hallway until Jack was done with business for the day and catch him on his way out. Perhaps then there would be fewer people around to watch her. Of course, that would mean waiting for hours, but honestly she couldn't think of anything better at the moment. Alice leaned her back against the wall and closed her eyes for a moment, fighting off the exhaustion that was starting to set in. She shouldn't have left in the middle of the night without any sleep.

"Alice, what on earth are you doing here?"

Her eyes snapped open to reveal Duchess standing in front of her, eyes wide and mouth left open. The blonde was the last person Alice really wanted to see right now – she wasn't at all sure that she had all of her personal issues with the girl behind her. More importantly, she didn't know exactly what Duchess thought of her. Would she attempt to get her arrested or thrown back through the Looking Glass? Technically she _had_ been the "other woman" in the situation…

But the next words Duchess spoke erased whatever doubts Alice had about the woman's feelings. "Alice, you're not safe here. I know why you're here and completely understand, but you can't be seen in this palace by anyone else who would automatically recognize you."

Alice could feel her mouth slightly hanging open and shut it with a snap. "I have to talk to…. wait, you know why I'm here?"

"Of course I do," Duchess whispered, dragging Alice by the hand down the hall, away from the double doors. "I know that Jack had Hatter thrown into the dungeon for no just cause, and I would have done the same thing in your position. But you can't help him by speaking to Jack." Her blue eyes filled with water right before she looked away. "Trust me, he would not help you at all. You'll be much better if you stay far away from that man."

Duchess' behavior completely confused Alice. She had thought the woman hated her! Apparently she'd been wrong, and now it looked like she had been wrong about Jack as well. If even Duchess didn't seem to trust him, Alice knew that he would not release Hatter for whatever he had done.

The hallway that Duchess had pulled her into had been empty, but now Alice could here quickly approaching footsteps. Duchess turned back around, carefully wiping under her eyes and pushed her further away. "Go, quickly, take your next right and there will be a door leading back outside the palace. You shouldn't see anyone on the way out if you hurry. Now go, _please_, Alice."

Alice started to comply, but turned around at the last second. "Why are you helping me? I thought you hated me?" she asked impulsively.

Duchess shook her head. "Alice, I never hated you. I was jealous, but I can see now that – " The woman stopped suddenly, visibly paling.

"Duchess?" called a female voice from the entrance to the hallway.

"Go!" she hissed at Alice before quickly heading back in the direction of the voice. This time Alice obeyed without hesitation and ran. She didn't stop until she was free of the palace and back onto the streets outside the building. Duchess wasn't a woman easily intimidated or scared. Her reaction to the unseen woman had freaked Alice out more than she cared to admit.

* * *

Now of course Alice had to decide where to go. She needed to stop and regroup, come up with a new plan. She just couldn't bear the thought of going back to her world before she had freed Hatter but obviously couldn't stay in the city. Charlie's camp was the only option. Alice didn't want to bring any trouble on him, but he had offered it to her as a safe haven. She would just have to trust that Charlie had been sincere.

Alice could remember how to get back to Charlie's kingdom of the knights as long as she could get to the beach. Unfortunately, transportation would be a problem. There weren't exactly any flamingos lying around for her to use, not that she would have voluntarily climbed onto one of those death traps again, but at least one could have gotten her where she needed to go. But what could she possibly use to get across the lake –

Then Alice remembered Hatter's smuggling boat. Knowing him, he would have tied it back up at the dock near his old tea shop. That boat was one of the few possessions – other than his hat – that he really seemed to care about. Surely he wouldn't have left it to rot on the side of the lake. Alice didn't feel great about this idea, but it was better than nothing. At least it was a chance.

And surely enough, after an hour of getting lost in the confusing city, Alice found herself staring at Hatter's boat, tied up at the very same dock he'd led her too before when they were trying to escape from Mad March. The thought of speeding across the lake brought an unexpected jolt of pain through Alice's body. Wonderland just didn't seem right this time, not without Hatter. Would she ever even see him again? For a moment, Alice felt like her entire trip back here was pointless and stupid. How was she supposed to rescue Hatter by herself?

Suppressing the urge to cry, Alice squeezed her eyes shut. No, she couldn't think like this. She had to be strong. Hatter's life could very well depend on her. The thought of Hatter dying because of her failure almost caused Alice to panic, freezing her on the spot. She couldn't lose him there, not when she had just started to realize that she actually loved him. Alice shocked herself with this last thought – when had like become love? But that wasn't a question she had time to answer now.

So Alice opened her eyes, walked confidently to his boat, and tossed her backpack inside.

However, a knife at her throat stopped her from taking another step.

"I really wouldn't scream if I was you." The voice that threatened her sounded ragged, but Alice would have recognized it anywhere.

"Hatter?"

Immediately the knife fell away from her throat. She spun around to see the former con man, enemy of Jack Heart, and possible love of her life standing in complete shock, arms dropped down to his side. Hesitantly, he lifted his hand and touched the side of her face. Alice stifled a small gasp as she looked him over. His face, where it wasn't crusted in dried blood, was a montage of fading bruises, giving it the appearance of being a mottled yellow and brown color. His clothes were torn and bloodied as well, and he was clearly favoring his left leg.

"I- I didn't think I was going to see you again," he whispered, almost unaware that he was speaking. "Ever. I thought…" Hatter trailed off as a he started to sway on the spot. "Alice-" he muttered just as his knees buckled.

Alice jumped forward and just barely caught Hatter as he sagged against her, his head landing on her shoulder.

"Hatter, you've got to stand up, just long enough to get you over to your boat. Then I can get you out of here, where you'll be safe." Alice's panicked voice roused him just enough to make it into the boat, but once inside Hatter passed completely out. Worry threatened to swamp Alice's emotions again, but she knew that before she could see how badly he was hurt, she would have to get Hatter to safety. She managed to get the motor started with little difficulty and was soon headed towards the opposite shore of the lake, hoping like hell that she would have enough strength to get Hatter to Charlie's camp.

* * *

The woman watched Duchess silently as she scurried back to her.

"What were you doing down that hallway, your ladyship? It seemed as though there was someone with you?" she asked in smooth voice.

Duchess swallowed before answering slowly. "Just a servant who appeared to be lost. I set them straight quickly enough." She couldn't make eye contact with the other woman while she spoke.

"Oh, that's all then. Just…. checking. To make sure there weren't any problems."

"No, nothing was the matter." Duchess curtsied and hurried away before the woman could ask her any more questions.

She watched Duchess go, amused at the reaction she was able to create in even the strongest of people here. However, her attention was soon drawn back to the empty hallway. As pathetic as Duchess was, the woman knew that Jack's fiancée had just lied to her. She had heard a few seconds of the conversation. Not much that was useful, but enough to know that Alice Hamilton had indeed returned to Wonderland.

* * *

The plot thickens?

Sorry I took so long to update! Classes started this week and I had to get organized. But hopefully I will have another chapter up in the next few days. If you have any questions, just ask me in a review and I'll answer the best I can.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

A/N - So, this chapter is pretty long, but a lot happens! And a HUGE thank you to everyone who's added this story to they're alerts/favorites or reviewed.

* * *

Night was quickly approaching by the time land was near again. Alice didn't know how she made it across the lake, but she soon found herself staring at the shore – the shore that was quickly approaching. Her stomach dropped as she realized that she had no idea how to land the speedboat, really. Having grown up in New York she'd never had the opportunity to learn to use one of these things, and the one time that she'd ridden in it with Hatter probably wasn't going to help much. Alice pulled back on the speed as hard as she could, but the boat was going too fast to really stop quickly. The crunch of sand on the bottom of the boat and a sudden jerk knocked Alice off balance. By the time she'd righted herself the small boat had stopped. A sigh of relief escaped Alice. She may have beached it, but at least she hadn't killed anyone.

The beach loomed out ahead of her in the failing light. Alice jumped out of the boat, trying to get her bearings. This was definitely the same beach that her and Hatter had surfaced on after they'd crashed the pink flamingo. The memory made her smile slightly, but it also made her remember arguing with Hatter about Jack. She'd been so certain that she could trust him, but she'd been wrong. Hatter had known that and rescued her. Alice shook herself before she could get lost in the memory. Hatter had saved her, but she wasn't done saving him.

However, lifting Hatter out of the boat and carrying him all the way to Charlie's on her own wasn't realistic – especially, Alice realized, since she didn't exactly know which way the ruined kingdom of the knights even was. That would have to be taken care of first. And she was going to have to leave Hatter in the boat while she figured out which direction to go. The thought sent spasms of panic up Alice's spine again, but it couldn't be helped. With a worried glance at where Hatter lay in his boat, Alice ran towards the trees. Hatter would be ok. Nobody knew they where hear, and nobody would be in these woods at night. At least that's what Alice kept telling herself to keep full on panic from setting in.

_Get a grip_, Alice told herself, stop and think. _You need to get to higher ground so you can see which direction to go_. She looked around, but the land surrounding her was basically flat with no hills nearby. There was nothing that could convince her to go wandering into the twilight and get herself lost by the time the sun was all the way down. There was nothing for it – she was going to have to climb a tree.

She spotted one nearby that had low, strong-looking branches. Thankful that she had worn jeans this time, Alice pulled herself up into the tree and carefully made her way from branch to branch. The last time she had done this she must have been six, in the backyard with her parents. Luckily getting up the tree was easier than she remembered, and the height didn't even register with her. Fear for Hatter blocked out her phobia completely. Reaching the top, she quickly spotted a giant white rook jutting up out from the forest. To get there she would just have to keep the sunset directly behind her. Alice made sure she memorized which direction it was in then descended the tree. In her hurry to get back down, her foot missed the bottom branch and she landed on the ground with a thud. Luckily she didn't twist her ankle or do anything else serious, but bark had scraped the side of her arm pretty viciously during the few seconds she had fallen.

Alice sucked in a breath – it had _stung_ – but she picked herself up and brushed dead grass off her jeans. Then she heard footsteps behind her. Lord, Alice was sick to death of getting snuck up on in Wonderland. She tensed, ready for a fight.

"Lady Alice! I'm glad to see you decided to indulge my hospitality!"

Thank _God_. It was Charlie. Alice almost broke down crying right there, but she pulled herself together. She should have guessed that he would be the only person crazy enough to voluntarily go into the Tulgey Wood. There was hope after all.

"Charlie, I found Hatter. You have to help."

* * *

The sun had completely set by the time they rode into Charlie's camp. The knight was riding ahead of her, singing incessantly again, but Alice didn't mind at all. She was simply too relieved to be bothered by it. Hatter was safe, propped up in front of her as she rode Guinevere behind Charlie. Not that what she was doing could fairly be called riding. She let the horse have her head and focused on keeping herself and Hatter upright, all the while hoping that the animal didn't decide to wander away from Charlie. But the horse had more sense than most humans and followed the knight all the way home.

Hatter however was still unconscious. He'd seemed to rouse briefly during the ride, but he had seemed so anxious that Alice had murmured to him that he should go back to sleep. He'd mumbled, "I breathe when I sleep and I sleep when I breathe… they're not at all the same thing… unless you're Dormy that is…" before slumping forward in the saddle once again, causing Alice to jerk him back against her body. The last thing the man needed was a fall from a horse. Hatter had stayed that way for the rest of the ride, leaned back against Alice, but she didn't mind. Strangely, he seemed to fit perfectly there. Alice tried not to think about this too much.

Alice and Charlie managed to get Hatter off Guinevere and onto Charlie's hammock without much trouble. Darkness had set fully in by now, darkness blanketing the surrounding trees. Although she knew it was very unlikely that anyone would find them this far into the Tulgey Wood at night, Alice couldn't help but stare into the shadowy trees. Wonderland was supposed to have been safe now that the old queen had been imprisoned, but everything was wrong again, and Alice couldn't feel secure no matter how hard she tried.

Interrupting her thoughts, Charlie called out, "Dearest Alice, you may rest while I take the first watch. The harbinger will be safe until you are rested." She turned, smiling at him. The knight definitely displayed some eccentricities and could be quite difficult to understand at times, but he always seemed to watch out for her.

"Thank you, Charlie. I think I'll try to get some sleep. I've been awake for awhile," she replied, walking over to the knight and giving him a firm hug. Then she sat on the bed that Charlie had set up underneath a shelter. She noticed in a distant way that he'd hung some blankets on three sides to give the place a homey feel right before she drifted off. Soon Alice laid stretched out on her side, lost in her dreams.

* * *

Alice woke up slowly, unsure of where she was for a moment. Her brain registered the blankets hanging around her and the sound of a wood fire popping. _I'm at Charlie's_, she thought groggily. A few seconds later, she remembered why. _Hatter_. Worry caused Alice to shoot straight up and look around wildly for a moment. Charlie was now in the hammock, but Alice soon spotted the man in question by the fire.

Hatter sucked in a breath as he pulled of his shirt. The movement obviously pained him. Gingerly, he felt his left shoulder, grimacing as he moved it in small, slow circles. From the unsteady firelight, Alice couldn't see exactly how badly hurt he was, but she could tell it was bad. Hatter hadn't even been slowed down by Dee and Dum's treatment. Whatever Jack had done to him, Alice would see that he answered for it. Just watching Hatter struggle as he shuffled to Charlie's washbasin was enough to decide that.

This was too much. Alice slid off the bed and padded across the grass to join Hatter. He didn't say anything as she walked up beside him, just continued trying to wash off blood and grime. Hatter's face looked better now that he'd washed the dried blood off, although he still looked as though he'd lost a bar fight. His body, however, had received the worst of it. Hatter's rather pale skin looked like a collection of bruises, scars, and cuts, most clotted and a few still seeping through makeshift bandages. He probably had a few cracked ribs as well, if not a few that were completely broken. _Oh yes_, Alice decided, _Jack was going to pay_.

A small grunt escaped Hatter as he reached around to try to wash his back. Alice covered his hand with hers, working the cloth out from between his fingers. She wouldn't have him hurting himself further, now matter how stubborn he might be.

"Here, let me help."

Hatter let Alice take over – he was too tired and in too much pain to argue even if he wanted to. And truth be told, he didn't want to. It was enough for him for Alice to just be here with him. Now she was actively taking care of him. Hatter decided that he was willing to let his male pride suffer and let Alice see his wounds. She could handle it.

He didn't want to pretend any more.

Alice's thoughts weren't nearly so present. Washing off the dirt allowed her to see the full extent of Hatter's injuries. He was pretty scraped and bruised, in addition to a ragged-looking gash that ran up his side. It was still bleeding slightly, and it worried Alice. Even though she cleaned it as gently as she could, contact with it still left Hatter gasping.

Trying to keep her voice steady, Alice asked, "How did this happen?"

"That happened while I was escaping. Rusty iron bar. I was running around a corner and didn't pay attention to wear I was going. My own fault really. Guess that's what I get for not looking before I leap, aye?" Hatter tried to sound flippant, but Alice wasn't buying it for a second.

Alice clamped her jaw shut for a second. "And the rest of it?" she asked.

Hatter replied with a small smile, "You really won't want to know, Alice."

Her mind wasn't that easily changed. Of course, Hatter knew that. Alice crossed her arms and waited for him to start speaking. Hatter decided to sit by the fire. The might as well be comfortable while he told Alice what had happened since she left.

"I followed you through the mirror-" he began, but Alice cut him off.

"You were the construction worker who found me, weren't you?" Hatter stared at her. After a moment he nodded his head mutely. Alice quickly explained. "My mom said the man who found me had a British accent and completely unruly hair. I figured you probably had something to do with it at that point. I don't really believe in coincidences any more." _Not to mention the fact that I saw him in my bathroom mirror_, Alice remembered, but decided to keep that information to herself for the moment. "And thank you, by the way." Hatter looked away, but not before Alice saw his cheeks turn red.

"Alright then, picking right back up then…" Hatter began his story again. "After I made sure you were safe, I went back by the mirror. I was just going to pop back to Wonderland and pick up a few things that I wanted to take out of my shop. Then those suits grabbed me and carted me back to the Heart palace. I'm not sure, but I think about a month of Wonderland time had passed. Then I was hauled into court in front of Jack, who proceeded to tell me that I was a traitor to the country, a disgrace to my friends, yadda yadda, you get the picture. At first I thought he was just annoyed because I went after you without asking his royal-ness, but then he threw me into the dungeons."

"I figured that he would hold me there for a few days in some half-brained attempt to teach me a lesson – as if – but then the next day I was sent to see Dee and Dum. At first they just played with my head…" Hatter's voice dropped off as he stared blankly at the fire. After a minute he continued as if nothing had happened. "They didn't even ask me anything. After a day or two I guess they decided that they'd had enough of mind games, cause then they got out their cattle prods again. But after about a week, I was taken away from them and sent to a part of the dungeons I'd never heard of before."

"I was blind-folded on my way down, so I'm not quite sure where it was located, but I found myself in a rather dark room, chained to a wall. This woman came in and started asking me questions – some about the organization, but mostly about - well, about you, Alice. Exactly what you were like, how close you'd been to Jack, what you could do, where you live." He paused here and turned back to look at her. Alice tried to keep the surprise from showing on her face. She didn't want Hatter thinking that she couldn't handle hearing the rest of his story, but the fact that a woman was asking questions about her disturbed Alice a great deal. "I didn't tell her anything though."

Alice interrupted Hatter again. "I know you wouldn't. They couldn't crack you before." Seeing that he just looked down at his feet in response to this, she touched his arm. "I trust you, you know."

Hatter cleared his throat. "Yeah, I know. Now if you'll only stop interrupting me," he teased. But he abruptly turned serious again. "Every day after that someone came in, tried to "encourage" me to tell them what I knew. You wouldn't know it, but there are some people in Wonderland more twisted than Dee and Dum, and in the employ of the King, it would seem. That's how the majority of this happened," he added, waving his hands towards his body. "Although I think I got the worst of it from that woman. She came back several times to ask more questions. She can put quite a lot of power into a kick."

"Anyway… I was down there about three weeks, as far as I could tell. I could tell they were getting pretty bored with me. It's only amusing to make the same person bleed for a limited number of consecutive days. Then one day the door opened and someone else came in. A certain tall, rude blonde you might remember?"

"Duchess?" Alice asked, honestly surprised.

Hatter grinned. "Yep. Turns out she wasn't so amused with what was going on. She'd convinced the guard to be elsewhere for a few minutes, giving me a chance to get away. Of course, in my hurry to be gone from there, I managed to gash myself pretty well. But I made a quick stop by the old Tea Shoppe before getting to my boat, where I ran into you. And that's about it." He stopped for a while, gazing into the fire again.

Alice wasn't sure what to say. She knew Hatter was sparing her most of the details, but her entire body was still shaking with horror and anger. Jack had obviously lost his mind as completely as his mother. As for this woman – Alice had a few things she would like to do to her. She wasn't normally a violent person, but this girl had it coming. No one did this to Hatter, especially not in an effort to get to her.

The sound of chuckling interrupted her thoughts. Alice snapped her head up and looked incredulously at Hatter, who wore a self-mocking smile. "I guess this is what I get for trying to play the hero."

"Hatter, look at me," she told him. He did, all traces of humor gone from his face. "Nothing you did caused any of this. None of what has happened to you is your fault."

He nodded. "I know."

Alice wasn't convinced, but she turned around to get a clean-looking sheet that Charlie had said she could use. She ripped a few long strips from it and bandaged Hatter's side back up. He looked better than earlier today, but Alice still couldn't believe the battered man standing in front of her. She'd had enough experience with karate-related injuries to know that he wasn't going to be better anytime soon.

"You'll probably be down for awhile, especially if you have any cracked ribs…" Alice drifted off as she realized that a lop-sided grin was spreading over Hatter's face. "What on earth are you smiling about?"

"I'll be fine in a day or two Alice. Really. It's not much to worry about. Wonderlanders heal up much faster than Oysters. I did have a few cracked ribs earlier this month, but they're all better by now."

The news surprised Alice, but she should have figured something like this. After all, Hatter had bounced back a little too quickly from being held in the truth room. Finally, she just decided to accept that Hatter would always be something of a mystery to her.

"Well, that's… good, I guess. As long as you're sure that you're ok."

Hatter's mood was abruptly serious again. "I will be. I just need a bit of a rest."

Alice nodded. "Oh, ok. Yeah, you definitely do. Take the bed. I guess I'll just keep watch for awhile then…" Alice was looking at the ground, unsure of herself.

Hatter hesitated, not really wanting to go straight to bed. Alice looked so small, standing by the fire. He wanted to stay but didn't know if he was welcome. Alice had gone through a lot today and might just want to be alone. But even as he turned to go to bed, Hatter felt a new pain in his chest. No, he wouldn't leave her alone like this tonight.

"Actually, do you mind if I stay up for a bit more?" he asked turning around. Alice looked up with a smile.

"I guess that would be ok. For a little while." Hatter sat back down a few feet away from her, once again looking at the flames as they charred the logs. But eventually his gaze drifted back to Alice.

Her long brown hair hung in her face, obscuring her expression. She was clearly upset, although Hatter really didn't know why. She wouldn't really be this dispirited over him, would she? He would be fine, and besides, Alice had more important things to worry about. For example, the fact that she was stuck in Wonderland again with another insane royal on the throne. Why had she come back anyway?

"Alice, can I ask you a question?" She nodded without speaking. "Why- why did you come back here? Not that I mind of course… but I thought you'd had enough of Wonderland for a lifetime."

Alice blurted out her answer without thinking. "To rescue you of course. I had to find you. There was no way I was going to let anyone hurt you."

Well, that wasn't what Hatter had expected to hear.

"How did you know…?"

She sighed and let her head fall into her hands. "I promise I'll tell you, just not tonight. I can't even process everything that's going on. Is that ok?"

Her statement completely confused and intrigued him, but he agreed. "Sure, don't let me press you. How are you anyway? With being here, I mean. Are you all right, Alice?" A thought occurred to Hatter that he hadn't considered before. One that made his heart tighten. "You're putting yourself in an awful lot of danger being here, you know. Whoever that woman is, I don't think she wanted to ask you to tea."

Tears threatened to spill onto her cheeks. Hatter, who had been held in a dungeon for a month, who had been tortured more cruelly than he would ever tell her because he wanted to make sure she was safe, who was right now covered in bandages and bruises, could only worry that she was risking her safety. Could anyone possibly care that much? Alice turned her face away from him as her emotions overwhelmed her.

But Hatter wasn't having that. No, he'd seen this girl go through too much to allow her to keep hiding her feelings and hurting herself. He placed his finger under her chin and gently turned her face back towards him. Shining, wet tracks ran down her face as she raised her eyes to meet his. Hatter had to restrain himself from kissing her right there.

"Why're you crying, love?" he asked, his voice soft.

Alice opened her mouth but stopped and shut it again. After a moment or two, she tried again. "I… Hatter, you… why on earth are you asking about me? You've got to be in pain. You passed out earlier today. And you're still worried if I'm ok? That's insane."

Hatter flashed a half-smile at Alice. "They always did call me a bit mad," he joked. But he became serious again as he looked at the silent girl in from of him. The stubborn, lovely, brilliant girl that had come back to Wonderland just to find him. "I'm never going to stop wanting you to be safe and happy, Alice. I told you once that I would take care of you, and that I'll do until I can't anymore. You will always be the most important person to me."

Hatter really cared. He wasn't going anywhere voluntarily. He wasn't going to abandon her. Alice's carefully constructed walls had taken a beating over the past weeks, but Hatter's words had finally destroyed them. Not caring about letting her feelings show for once, Alice threw her arms around Hatter. It hurt like hell, but at that moment he really didn't care. Alice was here, in his arms, not trying to run away. She wasn't trying to hide from him. He pulled her even tighter against him.

"Finally," he murmured against her hair. He couldn't believe he'd gone for months without this girl.

Alice pulled back for just a second, and looked him in the eyes. "You have no idea how happy I am just to see you – alive. I didn't think…" Alice paused for a moment. And so Hatter did the only thing an intelligent man could.

His lips met hers, gently at first, gauging her response. Alice pulled his head even closer to hers, her fingers winding through his glorious hair. She'd wanted to do that for a long time. The kiss grew in intensity until they were both breathing a little too loudly to ignore. Hatter moved his head back, resting his forehead on Alice's. He felt as though he was flying. His body was still incredibly sore, but he didn't care at the moment. It was enough just being here with her.

"I missed you."

* * *

Ok, so leave me a review and let me know what you thought! Ask me any questions you have, and I'll do my best to answer without giving anything away. New chapter should be up in about a week.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: SyFy and Lewis Carroll own all the characters, the plot is mine

* * *

The sun was just rising as Charlie woke up. He would have to leave for the palace now if he was going to avoid being late. Normally he stayed in the city during the week and only went back to his home in the Tulgey Wood when he was off duty. But the Lady Alice and her harbinger had required his assistance, and he could not have ignored their need. Charlie splashed some water onto his face from his washbasin, and then cast his gaze around to find the young people. A smile stole across Charlie's face when he spotted them. He knew it wouldn't take them long to figure out. Charlie left for the palace singing.

A few hours later Alice opened her eyes. The increasing sunlight finally refused to let her sleep any more – the day was simply growing too bright. She opened her eyes, yawning widely. However, something rather solid got in her way as she stretched. Something still asleep. Something that wasn't wearing a shirt.

_Oh, I must have fallen asleep next to him last night_. She quickly looked around for Charlie but didn't find him. _He must have returned to the palace already_. A blush spread across Alice's cheeks as she imagined what this must have looked like to the knight this morning. She knew that nothing had happened, but she didn't know exactly what people in Wonderland would assume.

Alice took a few minutes to recall exactly what had occurred the previous night.

_He opened his lips to say more, but a moment later they were rather more pleasantly engaged. Alice pulled him back to her, and he didn't attempt to stop her. Honestly, he'd expected a much less friendly reception. During her first trip in Wonderland, Alice had always pushed him away, done her best to keep him at a distance. But this change in attitude was very welcome. _

_Her hand trailed down his neck, causing goose bumps to appear all over his skin. Even a light touch from her caused a chill to shoot up his spine. Alice let her hand fall to his back as she held onto him even more tightly, starting feel a bit dizzy. Hatter of course didn't have a problem with this, except that he had a few incredibly tender muscles and she had definitely hit one. He released her with a gasp of pain. Confusion swept across Alice's face as she sat back down with a thud._

_"What's wrong?" she asked with a tremulous voice._

"_Nothing much. Just hit a sore spot, that's all," he forced out through the pain. It began to fade, but slowly. However, Hatter had to laugh as he saw the sheer disappointment on Alice's face. _

"_Why are you laughing?" she demanded, getting a little upset. "I just hurt you!"_

_Hatter grabbed her hand and pulled her up to him. "I'm fine, Alice, really. You'll just have to be gentle with me right now."_

_Alice sighed and pouted, but had a difficult time managing either as she tried to hold back her own giggles. "And just when I was enjoying myself too…"_

"_Love, I'm not going anywhere. There'll be plenty of time later…" his voice drifted off as his imagination drifted off into the "later". Apparently Alice was going there too, as she grinned wickedly at him. _

"_Is this what you say to all the girls?" she teased. _

"_There never have been any others, Alice. I've only felt this way about you. I'm pretty sure that you're the only girl I'll ever care for like this."_

_Hatter searched Alice's eyes as she processed what he had just said. This was as close to an open admission that either of them had gotten. Sure, he may have finally kissed her, but somehow Hatter knew that Alice needed to hear more from him. She suddenly looked very young, standing there in his arms. _

_She took a step back, taking one of his hands in each of hers. Alice began slowly, "Hatter, I- I've spent so long pushing people away that I'm not even sure I know how to have a successful relationship… and I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to push you away. That's the last thing I want to do. Ever. But…. I'm scared that I don't know how not to." She stared down at the ground while waiting for Hatter's response. He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry.  
_

"_Love, I won't let you push me away. I won't give up on you, and I won't let you hide. I'll always come to find you and pull you out of the dark." _

_They stood there for a while, Alice staring at the ground and Hatter looking at her. The night grew even colder around them as he waited for her to speak again, but she needed time. Alice had deep wounds in the relational area, and she wasn't going to be able to drop all her baggage so easily. But finally, what seemed like hours later to Hatter, she looked back up at Hatter. Tears trailed down her cheeks, but a smile stole across her face when he met her eyes. _

"_I'm… really glad. I wouldn't want you to do anything else. I don't want you to give up on me." She took a step back towards him and he wrapped his arms around her again as Alice buried her head in his shoulder. _

_Hatter would have liked to remain like this for a long time more, but unfortunately his body began protesting. He was sore all over, and his side was screaming where Alice's arm lay across his wound. He attempted to stay silent, but a grunt gave away his physical state. This time Alice wouldn't let him brush it off. _

"_Hatter, you really need to get some rest," she insisted. "If you're going to injure yourself escaping, you'll simply have to take the consequences of that like a grown man." _

"_But I'm not tired…" he started to whine, prompting a giggle out of Alice. "There's too much to hold my attention to allow sleep. You can't really expect me to go to bed now. I'm wide awake."_

"_Really? Because I was actually just about to go back to bed myself. Since you're so awake, why don't you clean up the mess created by getting YOU cleaned up…"_

_Hatter couldn't stop the crooked grin from spreading across his face. His Alice was certainly a clever one. "Alright, alright, I guess I'm quite exhausted after all." She smiled triumphantly at him. There was no way she was going let Hatter get worse just because he refused to go to bed. She pushed him gently in the direction of the bed. He didn't try to resist and let Alice steer him. He sat down on the edge of the bed once he got there, trying not to show how tired he actually was. However, he sat down a bit too heavily, causing Alice's eyebrows to rise._

"_Hatter, you're worn out. You should have gone to bed earlier," she chided him. The only response he gave her was a snort, although she swore that he muttered "as if" under his breath. But he took his boots off and swung his feet up into the bed. Alice turned to go clean up around and the fire and attempt to stay away. _

_She made it a few feet away when she heard Hatter clear his throat. She looked back, half-expecting to see him trying to get up. But instead Hatter was sitting on the bed, his expression forlorn. _

_Seeing he had Alice's attention, he asked, "I don't suppose that I could convince you to sit here with me a few minutes? Just until I nod off, mind you." Truth be told, Hatter wasn't at all sure he could even get to sleep that night. He'd only slept for a few hours in the past month. Every time he tried, images of that woman had flooded his mind and brought hellish nightmares with them. _

_Unable to say no, Alice gave in to his heartbreaking expression. "Of course."_

_She slid onto the bed next to Hatter, stretching her legs out in front of her. He sat next to her, propped up against the headboard. They stayed that way for hours, just talking. Hatter told her a little more of what he had experienced over the past few months, and she told him of coming back to her world. But mostly they shared their stories – their memories, their hopes, their fears, and their heartbreaks. Eventually Hatter's head had ended up in Alice's lap. She continued stroking his hair long after he fell asleep. _

_Alice knew it must be past midnight by now, and she needed to get up and at least try to gather the mess that she'd helped create. But she was just so tired. She decided to lie down for just a moment, just enough to get some energy…._

_Several hours later Hatter shot straight up, gasping hysterically. Alice jerked awake. She hadn't even realized she was asleep until Hatter had woken her. When her eyes got adjusted to the darkness, she saw that Hatter sat bent over on the edge of the bed, his hands wrapped around the back of his head. Alice immediately eased next to him. She carefully placed one arm around his shoulders and drew him closer. Hatter was shaking. Frightened, Alice didn't know what to do other than sit there with him, absent-mindedly rubbing circles on his arm. _

_Slowly he stopped trembling. As he sat back up, he turned to face Alice. Tears were running down his cheeks._

"_Alice," he began, but faltered. She waited for him to begin again, but Hatter just stared at her with wide eyes._

_She stroked hair away from his sweat-soaked forehead. When he still didn't speak for a few minutes, Alice whispered, "Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm here for you. Whatever it is, I'm here to listen." Hatter pulled Alice so that she was as close to him as she could be without actually sitting on him, and she laid her head on his chest._

_They stayed that way for a while, neither one wanting to move. They were strangely comfortable like this, more so than either had been with anyone before. When Hatter finally did speak, he was much calmer. He told her while slowly stroking her hair. "That woman was in my dreams. She did everything that… that she'd already done before. But that wasn't the worst of it. In my dreams, she told me that she knew you were here, that she was going to come for you next. And the worst of it was, there was nothing I could do to save you. I was useless to you, Alice."_

_Alice raised her head and looked Hatter directly in his eyes. "You could never be useless to me. I would have died or been shipped to the casino without you when I fell through that mirror, and you saved me countless times. And I still need you." He tried to look away, but Alice laid her hand along his cheek and moved his face back to her. "What can I say? I trust you. You won't let anything happen to me. I'm not scared of her."_

_Hatter didn't seem completely convinced, but at least he seemed to have calmed down from the dream. Alice got the feeling he still wasn't telling her everything, but perhaps Hatter just needed time. After a few more minutes he laid back down, and Alice curled up next to him. She wouldn't leave him alone tonight._

Her face turned a brilliant shade of red as she remembered the details of the previous night. Since when did she go kissing guys that she'd really only known for about a week? Even if it had been a rather unusual week, this kind of behavior just wasn't her. And she certainly didn't stay up talking all night with them and then just curl up beside them and sleep. What was worse was the fact that they'd pretty much admitted that they loved each other. Sure, neither of them had actually said the L-word, but it had been hanging around unspoken all night. Alice groaned. She just felt like everything was going way, way too fast.

_Whoa, get a grip_, she told herself, taking deep, calming breaths. Alice knew that she was going to have to stop running, particularly if she wanted to stay with Hatter. And she definitely did. The knowledge that her father hadn't left voluntarily had gone a long way towards breaking down her emotional walls, but there was still a lot of wreckage left. Alice was going to need a lot of help clearing it out. Hopefully Hatter would be willing to stick around and get his hands dirty.

The growing sounds of the forest made Alice realize that she was wasting the day. The sunlight was already high above the trees. With a sigh, she went to get off the bed and try to do something productive. Swinging her legs out over the edge of the bed, she stood but was quickly jerked back down on the bed.

Alice whipped her head around to catch a grinning Hatter holding her hand in his own.

"Sorry, but I wasn't quite ready for you to get up," he told her with a low chuckle. "I was enjoying watching you sit and think. You can be quite engrossing when you're still, you know, especially since you rarely are."

Not sure whether to be amused or annoyed, a mischievous smile stole across her face. "Is that so? And you would know this? Since you've spent so much time around me? "

"Of course." Really, the man did have a lovely grin. But his mercurial expression quickly shifted from joking to serious. "Speaking of knowing things, Alice, how did you know to come back for me?" The question caught Alice off guard.

"You won't believe me," she muttered after a moment. She wasn't even sure she believed it herself, except that Hatter had described to her exactly what she'd seen.

Hatter wasn't having that however. "Try me."

So she did. Alice described everything, from what she had seen two nights ago in her bathroom mirror to her exceedingly odd conversation with Duchess. Hatter tried to keep a neutral expression while she spoke, but he couldn't keep the worry from darkening his features. Alice saw that he was troubled when she finished her story.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

Hatter studied her through narrowed eyes. "These… these images came to you through a bathroom mirror? They weren't connected to the actual Looking Glass itself?" Alice thought his voice sounded skeptical. She could feel herself tensing. Hatter obviously sensed it too. "Love, I believe you, it's just odd, that's all. And coupled with the fact that you even got back through the Looking Glass makes this whole thing curiouser and curiouser. I was told that Jack had kept the Stone of Wonderland in a vault for over a month now. There's no way the portal should have been open."

"I don't know Hatter, I'm confused myself," Alice confessed, leaning against him. Everything was far too strange to figure out right then. She hadn't wanted her reunion with Hatter to be under these strained circumstances. Of course everything had to be impossible with her love life.

Hatter interrupted her depressing thoughts with a quick kiss on her forehead. When Alice looked up surprised, he took the opportunity and kissed her full on the mouth, taking his time. After they broke apart, Alice had to resist from giggling.

"I thought you were injured. You really should be resting you know, letting those cuts heal up," she teased. Hatter raised an eyebrow at her. Moving back from her a foot or two, he unwound the bandages. Alice couldn't believe it when there was nothing but a rather new-looking scar and some bruising left on his body. Now that she really looked at his face, she could see that even most of the bruises had disappeared overnight.

"I told you, I heal rather quickly." Alice just nodded, completely bemused. "Now, if you have no further objections…." That put a smile back on her face, and Hatter leaned in to kiss her again. He wanted to take things slowly with Alice, but he had been away from her for a very long month.

Unfortunately, Charlie's alarm system went off. Someone had breached the perimeter. Hatter and Alice both scrambled to their feet. He found his shirt and threw it on over his head while Alice tried to hear where the intruder was coming from. They both heard clumsy footsteps approaching through the underbrush and a rather elegant voice muttering curse words at the forest.

Moments later, Duchess stepped into the camp.

* * *

Kind of a cliffhanger. I promise the pace will pick up in the next couple of chapters! And of course had to have a little fluff in here :)


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I still own nothing. Not even a little. Not even Hatter's jacket.

To everyone who subscribed/reviewed – you are amazing!

* * *

She walked the halls of the palace, smirking as she saw people shrink away from her, hurrying into other corridors. These people were so easily frightened, like little children. There was nothing particularly threatening about her – a woman of slightly above-average height, fair skin, and deep brown hair. Well, perhaps her eyes were a bit unnerving, but that was hardly her fault. But this level of control over people – this was real power. Not the kind that fool Heart seemed to believe he had. No, what she possessed was far deeper. The people of Wonderland were completely under her thumb.

But she deserved this after what she had endured. The woman unconsciously began cycling through her memories. _A 13 year-old girl, face flushed with excitement, ran through the deserted city. She was just old enough to finally join the Resistance. Her father definitely couldn't say anything to her about it – how would it look to all his friends if he didn't let his only child follow in his footsteps? And to be trusted with a message going straight to the great library so quickly! But she was determined to make everyone proud of her. She dashed out from behind a pillar, making a beeline for more cover. _

_But in her hurry, she didn't notice the scarab hovering a few blocks away, or the suits across the street. She didn't realize that one had been following her movements all day. She couldn't have known that the Queen knew exactly who she was and didn't exactly approve of her actions. _

_They captured her without too much of a fight. She managed to get rid of the message right before they stuck her with something that made her pass out. When she woke up, she was in a cell deep in the Heart's palace. But even then, the girl didn't worry. She was certain that her father would soon realize she was missing, and then he would get the entire Resistance to come after her. Her father could never leave her here. He loved her too much._

_He never came. Others did, mostly self-appointed "scientists" who would ask her questions. They wanted to know about her life. She refused to give them any details, especially when they asked how she got connected to the Resistance. The questions were annoying, but the scientists seem harmless, especially compared to the stories that she'd heard from her friends about the dungeons._

_She was wrong. _

_After a few weeks, one of the white-coats came and took her away from her cell. He took her to a white, clean room. There was minimal furniture, just a single table in the middle of the room that was set for tea, with five places. She glanced up at the doctor nervously. He smiled reassurance towards her, and she decided to believe him. This was tea after all – perhaps he would just try to make her feel good things for a while. _

"_May I sit?" she asked nervously, still unsure of the situation. _

"_Of course, it's a private tea party, just for you, child," he smoothly replied. _

_She looked at the table, which had at least 5 settings. "I don't understand – are we expecting company? There are so many tea cups…." _

"_No, of course not! It's all for you. Now just pick a place and sit down." _

_The girl felt very out of place in the white chair by the white table in the white room. She was so dirty that she could hardly stand it, but she obeyed anyway. The cup in front of her was the darkest shade of green that she'd ever seen, and it smelled faintly of wood smoke. "Is this a new tea?" she asked. This was no brew she was familiar with, and her father had made her memorize them all, just in case someone tried to slip some to her. _

"_Yes, they all are. We think you'll really enjoy these ones."_

_She lifted the cup cautiously to her lips. This was the first time she would taste the queen's teas. Unfortunately, there was really nothing she could do about it. With a sigh, she tipped it back.  
_

_The first sip went down easily, but left her wanting more. In moments the cup was drained dry. She lifted it higher, searching for any last drop that had escaped her. She needed it, _now._ Quickly she turned to the scientist, who appeared to be making notes on a pad. _

"_I want more of it!" she demanded. Somewhere inside she was shocked b the harshness of her own voice, but she ignored it for the moment. "Please, I need it." _

"_Change places, there's more to your left." She threw herself into the next chair and downed the cup without stopping to marvel at its iridescent red color. But moments after the sweet liquid poured down her throat, she felt heat rising through her body. Within seconds she was inexplicably angry. The smug man in the lab coat made her want to hit something, not that she could do any damage with her weak body. But that wouldn't stop her from lunging at him nonetheless. He saw the look on her face and allowed himself a satisfied smirk._

"_Change places, before you do something you'll regret" _

_As angry as she was at the man, she wanted more tea. This cup was perfectly clear, with no discernable scent. As she drank she could feel the fire of anger burning away, to be replaced by nothing at all. At least, she thought it was nothing, until the dread began building up, slowly but relentlessly. The walls seemed to be shrinking around her, the man behind her somehow menacing now. Within seconds her skin began crawling, her throat seizing up with panic. Her own heartbeat was ringing through her head. _

"_Child, are you frightened?"_

_She replied in a wimper._

"_Then change places."_

_She did as she was told, if only because she was terrified of how he might react if she disobeyed. This cup was a dull grey. She drank, the fear subsided, leaving sorrow in its places. Tears became sobs, leaving her curled in her chair before the empty cups. How could she have been left here? How could her father abandon her? Did no one care? She gasped, unable to catch her breath. The girl just wanted to end. _

"_I promise, one more cup and it will be all over."_

_She couldn't even stand. The scientist picked up the cup and pressed it to her mouth. The black, sweet liquid poured down her throat, erasing all sadness as it burned its way to her stomach. The man noticed the change immediately, and sprang away from the table. Immediately several armed guards charged into the room and restrained the girl, who was attempting to attack the man in the white coat, screaming incoherently. She hated him, wanted him dead, wanted them all dead. They did this to her – the scientists, the guards, the queen, her father, the Resistance – this was her last thought before she blacked out. _

Donia's eyes flickered opened as she dispelled the last of the memory. They'd continued trying to new teas, the dark teas as they called them, on her, in different combinations for the next seven years. They wanted to test the limits of what the body could handle. They wanted knowledge. What they forgot is that when you push someone to the edge, they will often fall over without you noticing.

Some of the damage she'd been able to control. She managed to push a few of the emotions out of her system for good. But the hatred stuck, mostly because she wanted it to. She'd held onto the hatred as a means of survival – when her splintered mind could handle no more emotions, the hate would push them all out. She'd had to lose most of who she was to stay alive, but the sacrifice had been necessary. She had paid the price to live.

Now everyone else would pay as well.

* * *

Slightly shorter chapter, but I'm going to try to update by Sunday night! Promise I'll be back to Hatter, Alice and the whole gang next time, but this part is important. More soon!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Still no ownership. I can live with that, as long as I can take the characters out to play.

Thank you to everyone who favorited or reviewed! This chapter was really difficult to write, so please let me know what you thought.

* * *

"Why does this bloody place have to be out in the middle of this godforsaken wood that doesn't even have a decent road?!" Duchess shouted as she stumbled into Charlie's home. Alice froze, and Hatter looked back and forth between the two women, hoping there wouldn't be a conflict. But Alice just stood in slight shock and Duchess didn't seem to be at her best. Leaves were caught in her blonde hair, and she appeared to have fallen at least once or twice, judging from the amount of mud on her clothes. Her heels certainly hadn't survived their trek – one of them had completely snapped in half, and the other one was caked in grime. Alice couldn't help but stare at the usually elegant person in front of her, who was currently muttering under her breath, glaring at the trees.

When the murderous stare was turned on Alice, she decided it was time to say something. "What… what are you doing here, Duchess? How did you even find this place?"

"Well, I had to go somewhere, and this is apparently the safest place in all of Wonderland," she said, with a derisive snort at the end. Confusion covered Alice's face, prompting Duchess to continue. "Charlie sent me. He gave me directions to a boat he had used to get to the city this morning, then told me how to get here. Except I've been walking the entire way from the lake, and he didn't exactly warn me about the distance or the fact that this place doesn't even have a roof!"

This speech piqued Hatter's curiosity. "Charlie? He sent you? Why would you have to go someplace safe? I thought you and Jack were an item…"

Duchess's eyes flared and Hatter realized that this was a touchy subject, "We were – still are – an "item", as you so elegantly put it. Except for the fact that he's become a mindless puppet who doesn't remember who he is, and that wench hates my guts, because she knows I'm the only thing that stands between her and the throne of Wonderland!"

"What? What did you mean by Jack being a puppet?" Alice asked, completely lost.

Duchess shot her a withering look. "I know you don't understand everything, but surely you can grasp this one. Jack's not exactly been himself lately, in case you missed it." Hatter bristled at her tone, but Alice shook her head at him. She still may not entirely like Duchess, but the woman probably had her reasons for being abrupt.

Trying to keep her voice calm, she asked, "What woman? And how does she have control over Jack?"

Duchess calmed a little, but her face was twisted with disgust as she replied. "Scarlett, or whatever the witch calls herself. I can guarantee you that's not her actual name, but it doesn't matter. And no one's been able to figure out how exactly she's controlling Jack, but she's become the most dangerous person in Wonderland. The only thing I know is that she's out for more than just power – she's after blood. This one is insane and cruel in a way that the Queen never was."

The information overwhelmed Alice for a moment. At least Jack's behavior was explained, but they were still in deep trouble. Even more now that Duchess had joined them. If this Scarlett person really wanted her dead, she'd surely sent suits after them. Although why she would need Duchess dead was a very curious question to begin with.

Hatter obviously though along the same lines. "Why would she have to get rid of you to get to the throne. Couldn't she just control Jack or dispose of him and take power that way?"

Now Duchess didn't seem nearly as proud or outraged. In fact, she looked a little sheepish. "Well, she could, if there wasn't a queen to take over for him…" Her voice drifted off as she found the tree to her left suddenly fascinating. Hatter quickly put two and two together and started laughing.

"Oh god, what a joke. And no one knows, I take it?" When Duchess didn't give him a reply, he just kept laughing. But Alice was still confused.

"Wait…. what?" She was getting really tired of asking "what" but evidently she was the only person cluing in.

Duchess sighed and swung her gaze towards Alice. "We got married. In secret. We were supposed to have a public ceremony later, but then that woman showed up, and Jack lost his mind. But the paperwork's all done, so I'm officially the Queen of Wonderland."

Alice expected to feel some kind of shock, or perhaps even jealousy, but she didn't. "Oh, well, congratulations," Alice said sincerely. "I mean, obviously aside from this entire episode, but I knew that it was you two who were supposed to be together." Her answer diffused Duchess's annoyance, and she smiled at Alice. The two women started feeling less antagonistic towards each other in that moment. They had both been victims of circumstance after all, and everything had worked out, until recently. Perhaps they could be friends after all, they both mused, grinning at each other now.

Hatter just stared at both of them, utterly confused by women.

"Anything else we should know?" he asked, clearing his throat.

A strange look crossed Duchess's face. "Well, there is one other thing… the former Red Queen was found dead in her cell this morning."

_Well_, thought Alice_, that's certainly news_.

"No one knows how it happened, but I'm certain it was Scarlett. Getting rid of threats, you know. That's why I decided I had to leave today. She's hated me from the start, partially because I seemed to be able to wake Jack up from whatever she's done to him. She actually kind of feared me, I think, which seems absurd. I'm not exactly a threatening individual." Hatter wasn't so sure he agreed. He certainly wouldn't want to piss off the intense blonde. "But Charlie agreed to give whatever help was necessary when she showed up, so today I took him up on his offer."

"Well," Alice sighed, "what do we do know?" This was getting so much more complicated than she supposed a few days ago.

"We wait for Charlie, I guess." Hatter nodded, unhappy with Duchess's response but resigned.

* * *

Several hours later, Duchess had cleaned up and was resting on the bed. Hatter and Alice laid out on the grass by the fire. They weren't talking, just lying next to each other. Hatter held her hand, stroking her skin absent-mindedly with his thumb. They watched the clouds above them dance. To Alice they seemed strangely alive here, as though they knew they were being gazed at, and so performed obligingly. Right now Alice was watching a dance, and the skirts of the cloud-women even seemed to take on slight hues. For a moment, she was able to forget her problems.

But they came crashing back with Charlie, who burst into camp on the back of Guinevere. Hatter shot up, pulling Alice with him.

"Charlie, what's happening?" he shouted. The knight seemed frantic.

"The suits won't be more than an hour behind me! We must leave immediately if we are to reach safety before they catch us!" When no one responded to his orders, he stomped his foot. "Well come on, then!"

"Who's after us, Charlie?" Hatter asked, trying to get some sense out of the knight.

"The red woman, of course, and her minions." Duchess got up without question and was already picking up the pack that she had put together before she laid down. Alice and Hatter also went to pick up their own packs. Luckily Charlie had extra supplies around. Being friends with a paranoid knight occasionally had its perks.

"My Queen, it would be my honor if you would ride with me," Charlie offered with a half bow. Duchess cast a dubious glance at the horse but climbed up behind the knight anyway. She only hoped that she couldn't fall off. Meanwhile, Hatter helped Alice into the other horse's saddle and then mounted as well. Her arms snaked around his waist as soon as he was settled and she planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Oy," he teased with a smile, "no funny business. We are trying to escape from a mad woman's goons here. Not exactly the time."

Alice laughed as Hatter brought the horse, Tristan, around to face Charlie. "Where exactly are we going anyway, mate? I didn't think there was anywhere else safe in Wonderland, what with the good guys now being controlled by Scarlett."

"That's where you're wrong, Harbinger! The Resistance has formed again in the strange evens of these past months! They will shelter us."

Hatter swallowed, not exactly thrilled to see the Resistance again. Certain members weren't terribly fond of him. In fact, he should probably make sure they weren't going to visit Dodo.

"Charlie, who are we seeing, exactly?"

Charlie was now getting annoyed. "You ask too many questions, boy! But if you insist, we're going to get help from your own father. "

This piece of news floored Hatter. "What are you talking about? I haven't seen him since I was a lad. Why would he help us?"

"Because, he's the Caterpillar! Now we must be off," he shouted, causing both Guinevere and Tristan to take off in a gallop.

* * *

So..... another cliffhanger there. Hatter is in a bit of shock, I would say. Let me know how you feel about this little revelation!


	7. Chapter 7

I realized after I uploaded this that I magically switched tenses halfway down. So sorry! My head was stuck in another story. Also sorry about it being a short update, but had I included it with the next chapter if would have been a very huge, very late chapter.

* * *

Hatter was silent. He hadn't spoken a word since Charlie had dropped the news about his father. Alice sat behind him arms still wrapped around his waist, hoping he would say something soon. But as the hours passed he didn't speak a world, his shoulders rigid, gaze directly ahead. Worry began growing in the back of Alice's mind – she'd just found Hatter. She couldn't stand the thought of losing him to whatever was occupying his mind Hatter was right between her arms, but he might as well have been miles off.

Night had already fallen by the time Charlie felt that their lead was good enough to stop. The Tulgey Wood became completely black at night. Suits unfamiliar with the forest would be lost or dead if they tried to go anywhere in the dark. Alice hoped none of them would get hurt – they were just unwilling pawns of this Scarlett person after all – but she also didn't exactly want to go and lend them a hand. Luckily Charlie had been living out here long enough to know his way even in the pitch black.

"We will make camp here for the evening," Charlie announced. Duchess gave an audible sigh of relief – she'd never been comfortable around horses and wanted to get of this one at the first chance. "We leave at first light, so get as much rest of possible."

Hatter dismounted wordlessly. The suddenness of his movement startled Alice, who now felt uncomfortably alone in the darkness. Her eyes, unused to seeing in the dark, were almost useless and now her only connection to another person had disappeared. Panic starting rising up her body as her mind registered the fact that she was sitting blind on a _very_ tall horse. She froze. _How the hell do I get off this thing? I have no idea where the ground even is!_

A hand shot out of the darkness and touched Alice's arm, making her jerk. "Hey, it's just me. Though you might need some help." _Hatter_. He lifted her down as easily as he had from the ladder that first day she met him. Only now when Alice was safely on the ground he didn't turn away but instead hugged her close to his body. When he stepped away, Alice reached up to touch his face. She was surprised to find tears running down his cheeks.

"Hatter," she began, but he laid a finger over her lips.

"Not right now, love. In a bit, I promise, but – not right now. Please?" Alice understood. She'd dealt with the thought that her own father had abandoned her for years before finding out the truth. It had been a huge shock when she had finally found him – Hatter needed some time to process.

He took a deep breath before taking a few steps back from Alice. "Come on, we probably should help Charlie with Duchess. I don't even want to imagine that woman trying to set up camp." He tried to keep his voice light but Alice could hear the strain behind it. She hesitated following me. He turned back to her, aware of the reason for her pause. "I would say I'm fine, but I know you'll just tell me to stop lying. But I will be. I just need a bit of time, love, that's all." Just then, more cursing from Duchess alerted the pair that they were needed elsewhere. "I never knew that woman had such a mouth on her," Hatter chuckled.

"Oh, you'd be surprised about elegant women," Alice said, allowing Hatter to lead her while her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Alice laid perfectly still beside Hatter on the ground. They were sleeping on some blankets Charlie had produced from his saddlebags. She could feel he was awake but not speaking, and she didn't want to disturb him. There was still an edginess about him that unsettled her. She wanted to let him have time to himself to think things out for a bit without her pushing him, but she felt terribly alone at the moment.

A breeze blew through the camp, making Alice shudder beneath her jacket. Hatter suddenly pulled her closer to him.

"Thought you were asleep," he whispered. After she didn't say anything, he continued. "You didn't need to pretend."

"I didn't want to bother you if you needed some time to yourself."

Hatter rolled over to face her. "As if you even could," he scoffed. "I was actually starting to feel a bit lonesome over here." Once again he took her hand and began absent-mindedly playing with her fingers. Alice couldn't see his face, but she could tell he was far off in thought again.

"A few minutes later he suddenly spoke. "I was six when he left." The words came out heavy and stilted. "There never was any explanation – just one day I came home and he was gone and Mum was crying. She never told me what happened, but she wasn't angry, just sad. And my Dad never contacted us again. Not even… not even when she died." The last words were quick but sharp.

Alice squeezed his hand. He had never shared this with anyone before.

"Things were hard for awhile, but I got through it. That's actually how I met up with the Resistance. Dodo found me wandering the streets and decided to take me in, but of course I had to earn my keep. I started up smuggling for them – not even queenie there would suspect a kid – and kept going once I was old enough to get out from under Dodo. He… he wasn't pleasant to live under. It was around then that the Hearts started to get suspicious and I started to sell teas for them. I did my best to keep anyone from getting too curious about what I did. Sure, I did my best to help the refugees, but I won't lie and tell you that it was my main motivation. I was just trying to survive. And that's how things were when you caught up with me." Hatter paused again, nestling closer to Alice in the dark. She stroked his wayward hair away from his forehead, letting her fingers curl through his hair. Minutes passed.

"All that time, and he didn't say a word. Didn't try to see me. He had to have – he had to have known-" His final words came out in broken sobs. Hatter tried not to cry, but the effort left him gasping for air. The tears did eventually come, leaving burning trails down his cheeks. Alice sat up, pulling him up with her. Hatter held onto her and cried himself out. Years of resentment and misery poured out of him with every tear that splashed onto Alice's shoulder, until she felt that they might drown in the puddle he'd surely created by now. But she didn't mind at all. Hatter needed this, just like she had.

Eventually the calm after the storm arrived. Hatter's head lay against Alice's shoulder as she continued to stroke his hair. Something was different between them now, both now. Hatter had shared his past, however small that piece is, with someone for the first time since his mother died. They were more connected than they ever have been before, and both of them realized this. They were both a little terrified. They were both a little worried. And they were both understood that neither of those mattered in the face of what was now growing between them.

But for the moment, they were both happy to rest in each other's arms.

* * *

Reviews are appreciated as always :)


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own it.

I'm back! And with a long(ish) chapter. More up soon! Thanks for sticking with me.

Just a side note: Donia is about 27, so it's been 14 years since she was captured. And for own purposes and amused Hatter and Alice are both around 20. And Caterpillar is about 60ish. Now that everything's settled… let the shenanigans commence!

Yea, I just said shenanigans.

* * *

Donia wasn't happy.

Not that the two suits that had returned from the Tulgey Wood had expected anything else. The Red Queen may have been a tyrant, but she would never have been insane enough to send into the Tulgey after the sun had already set. She would have beheaded them for _not_ returning immediately to the casino. But instead this woman had insisted that they look for Alice and her friends until they found them.

Unfortunately, the suits had found a few Jabberwockies first.

Donia, however, didn't care that most of them had become dinner.

"How could you have let them get away? You idiots! You let a few dumb animals stop you from catching up to an injured conman, an Oyster, a broken down man, and the Duchess. That's the most pathetic thing I've ever heard." Her voice, dangerously quiet, made both men start shaking. She was more terrifying than the old queen had ever hoped of being.

"Now what am I going to do with you? I can't have this kind of incompetence surrounding me. Not when this kingdom is about to fall apart at any moment. Perhaps I should just execute you?" The suits new she was perfectly capable of issuing such a command. "But no. That would be easy. That would be quick. How about I just lock you two up in the dungeon?" A wicked smile spread across her face as panic danced across theirs. "Oh, I've take it you've heard a thing or two about the dungeon here? You're not scared, are you?"

Donia stood up and crossed the room. She stopped in front of the suits, staring them down with empty eyes. After a minute, she slapped both viciously across the face, her nails leaving marks on both of them. "I'm feeling merciful today, so I won't kill you. But I do expect you to go back and scour every inch of those words until you find them. If I see either of you before I have them, you will die. Now leave."

They didn't waste any time obeying her.

Obviously she was going to have to send someone better than the suits to find that wretched group. She needed Alice and the Duchess either under her control or dead – preferably the latter. But she couldn't leave the palace herself, not with Jack not fully under her control. He'd resisted today, not for more than a few moments, but for that time she could taste the rebellion stirring in him. It would be difficult to maintain control for long, especially if either of those women were able to give any more support to the Resistance.

She needed Hatta and Haigha.

* * *

Both men had been with her in the dungeon. Messengers for the White King before the Hearts had taken over, they'd been in prison for 20 years. They'd managed to stay relatively sane long after others had snapped. They'd felt for the poor girl locked away, but eventually they were subjected to the dark teas as well. Hatta was more stable, and he'd merely stopped talking after a few weeks. He seemed to go completely emotionless, giving only a blank stare to anyone that would speak to him. Haigha on the other hand became completely unhinged. He spent his days swinging back and forth between being gleefully happy and then sobbing and raging. The darks teas also seemed to have eradicated his conscience. The few times he'd gotten his hands on another prisoner that had offended him, they'd been reduced to scraps fairly quickly. Haigha was not charmingly mad. He was psychotic.

It didn't matter that Mad March was dead. The pair was just as skilled at tracking while being infinitely more vicious than the rabbit head had ever considered. They would do quite nicely for dealing with the idiots that were trying to defy her.

They'd been riding all day, and no one was very happy at the moment. Duchess was doing her best to maintain a good attitude, but there was only so much she could handle. Riding was making her nauseous and she was really hungry. Alice was stiff from not having gotten enough sleep the night before, having stayed up talking to Hatter. Even after he'd fallen asleep, curled up in her arms, looking painfully young, she'd been unable to drift off. She was so worried about him. Only a few days had passed since he'd been in a jail cell, in terrible shape. And she didn't' care if he said he healed quickly – there was no way he was completely better. Now this thing with his father… Alice simply wasn't sure how much more he could handle. Right now he was riding in front of her quietly, without the tension from yesterday, but he wasn't speaking much.

"Charlie, how much longer before we get there? It can't possibly be that far away," she asked, trying not to whine.

"Surely not much longer," Duchess interjected, not attempting to disguise her whining as anything but.

Charlie huffed and turned around. "What are you young people made of these days? I'm much more advanced in age than you too, and yet I'm as fit as a fiddle!" He punctuated his sentence by pounding his fist against his armor, prompting a small coughing fit. Alice did her best to hide her laughter. "At any rate, do you see those buildings in the distance? That's the town we're going to. It's only an hour's ride from here."

An hour later they approached the small town. Alice had no idea these places even existed in Wonderland – she'd only ever seen the city and the casino. It looked very similar a rural village out of Austen's England. She smiled at a young boy who perched on a fence right at the edge of the village. He waved back, then took off running down the road.

Hatter spoke, slightly startling Alice. "Why exactly are we here? How can a simple village help us?"

Duchess gave a mirthless laugh. "These are hardly simple villagers." At his questioning look, she continued. "They're all members of the new Resistance and their families. There are a lot of places like this hidden among the hills, but this is the current base of operations. We're lucky, really. Had it been a week later, we would have had a few more days of riding before reaching Caterpillar. The leaders move fairly regularly."

Alice felt Hatter wince at the mention of his father's name. She rubbed his shoulder and arm, trying to comfort him. "I'm fine, love," he whispered, although she didn't really believe him. However, she let it go for the moment.

The boy was now returning down the road with a few adults in tow. They looked suspicious until they got closer. "Charlie? Is that you?"

"Yes, my good sirs. We desperately need to see Caterpillar. It's a matter of the utmost importance."

"Who's that with you then?" another man asked.

Charlie smiled. "Don't you recognize them? Tis the Queen, the Lady Alice, and the Hatter, the most loyal friends of the realm."

"Really? _The_ Alice?"

Alice rolled her eyes, mumbling, "Not this _again_," but then pasted on a smile. Whoever these men were, they seemed to want to help them out.

She was right. Within minutes they were off the horses and being led to a warm house. The day had taken a surprisingly chilly turn, not unusual for Wonderland's mercurial weather patterns. Alice was glad to get close to a fire. Several adult women where in a kitchen to welcome them, Bowls of hot stew and warm, fresh bread were set in front of them, which Alice and Duchess both dug into happily. Hatter, however, stayed back.

"I need to see Caterpillar now," he stated bluntly.

One of the women shook her head. "No, eat first, there'll be time for that later."

But Hatter wasn't having that. "No, I can eat later. I have speak to him now." His tone of voice left no room for argument.

"Alright, he's two doors down to the right."

Hatter ducked out, leaving most of the women in the room staring after him. Preempting any questions, Alice simply stated, "Yes, he's always like that. Really, it's just better to let him work this one out."

The slightly older woman smiled. "I take it he's yours then?"

Alice started to say no, but stopped herself. "Yeah, I guess he is," she said, unable to stop herself from grinning. The other women all chuckled.

"He is a looker, that one, although I must say he seems to be a bit on the odd side."

"Oh, you have no idea," Alice answered with a laugh. But she became thoughtful quickly. "He's a good man though."

"Oh dear, we had no doubts about that. We've all heard how he rescued your life many times, helped bring down the Queen of Hearts, then got thrown into the dungeon for standing up to whatever insanity worked its way into his highness."

Alice smiled. She really was lucky to have him. She just wished she could help him with this issue with his dad, but she realized how personal it was. She just hoped that he would be ok.

* * *

Hatter stood outside the door, hesitating. How could he be afraid to see his own father when he'd waited this long already? He'd worked out everything that he wanted to say years ago – all he needed was the guts. But standing in front of that door, Hatter only felt like a young boy again, one who desperately wanted his father to come back home, who didn't know what he had done to make him leave, who obviously wasn't enough to keep him around.

He had to do this before he lost his nerve. HE took a deep breath, then opened the door.

Caterpillar – his father – was sitting in the middle of the room, pouring over a table of charts and hand-written notes. His back was to the door. Not looking up, he said, "Charlie, I've been expecting you. Come in, please."

Hatter stepped inside and closed the door.

"I'm not Charlie. Sorry."

Caterpillar stopped writing. He sat up a little straighter, but didn't turn around.

"Who are you then?"

"I go by Hatter these days, but when you knew me I believe I was called David. Occasionally "'son' too. At least that 's what I remember… Dad." Caterpillar was absolutely still. "Then again, I was six, so my memory about then isn't that great. Except for the important stuff."

The older man finally turned around and looked at Hatter.

"So, I see Charlie told you then?"

"Of course he did." Hatter attempted to keep the emotion out of his voice, but he stills feels like it's about to crack. "I was… well, shocked I guess."

"I suppose you want to talk about what happened then?" His voice contained no emotion, no remorse. It was worse than Hatter had feared. In his imagination, the man in front him had either been ecstatic to be reunited with his son, or miserable, or at least angry. But instead a seemingly apathetic man sat in front of him, no feelings to be seen.

"Sure, how bout starting with the fact that you abandoned me and my mother, then never contacted us again. Does that work for you?"

Caterpillar sighed. "I know you don't understand. It was a necessity. It was to protect the both of you. If the queen had found out about the two of you, you would have been dead. Your mother understood that."

Hatter swallowed the anger building inside, his stomach curling. "Yeah, I'm sure she did, especially when she died a few years later. Nothing wrong with her physically, she just gave up on life. Even the doctors said so. Sounded like a woman who understood what you did really well."

His father flinched. Hatter was secretly pleased, happy to get any sort of reaction out of him. "That was regrettable. I'm truly sorry."

"Sorry? You're sorry? Really? And what about leaving me in the hands of Dodo afterwards? What then? Was leaving me to fend for myself for my own protection?"

"No, but it was the best place for you at the time. You wouldn't have been safe-"

"Safe? As if. I'm amazed I made it out of there alive. That man hated me and sent me to do the most dangerous things by myself. He still hates me. And you saw how he treated people around him. Yet you entrusted him with your son? Right."

Hatter could feel the anger boiling inside but couldn't stop spewing out the words.

"I know it wasn't ideal. I wish there'd been another way, but there wasn't at the time. I suffered too."

He didn't want to hear these words. "So much that you apparently couldn't find the time to tell your son that you were alive."

Several minutes passed before either of them spoke again. Caterpillar stared out the window while Hatter tried to look anywhere but at the man who was supposed to be a father. As far as he could tell, the man had no emotions any more, no remorse, no regrets. Perhaps the loving father he'd known as a kid really was made up in his head, the hopeful dreams of a lonely boy. There was no way he could no the storm raging inside his father, how badly he wanted to just give his child a hug, how much he wanted to apologize for. But there was no time for that now. He had to push through it now. Reconciliation would have to come later.

"I am sorry. But it was necessary. It was horrible what I had to do, leaving you and your mother behind, but it had to be done. Hopefully you'll understand that one day, Davie."

Hearing his father's special nickname for him was too much for Hatter at that moment. Memories of his childhood came crashing down on him. He didn't know whether to write this man off or break down crying. Either way, he had to get away from him, and now.

After the door slammed shut, Caterpillar slowly turned back to his table and resumed writing.

* * *

So I know that comes off as kind of harsh – Caterpillar really mostly sucks right now. But there's much more to come! Including some action in the next chapter, which will be up soon! Love you all. Reviews always welcome.


	9. Chapter 9

Naturally I don't own anything, just the bits you don't recognize.

Anywho, here's the next chapter!

* * *

Alice found Hatter leaning in a doorway, staring off into the cloudy horizon. The grey day had turned even colder after a light mist settled over the landscape. The dismal weather reflected his mood perfectly. He didn't even bother acknowledging her as she walked up behind him and wrapped an arm around his waist. His gaze stayed firmly directed away from her.

"Hatter? You ok?" she asked tentatively. He didn't respond for a few minutes, but he did squeeze her gently. After waiting, Alice kissed his cheek then went to walk back to the kitchen. If he wasn't going to talk willingly, she wasn't going to wait around to pull it out of him. Right before she left the room though, he spoke.

"He didn't even care." Alice looked back at him as he turned to face her, his shoulder pivoting on the doorframe. "Not that he left us, not that my mother died, not that I was stuck with Dodo for years… he didn't seem to feel badly at all. I didn't even recognize that man in there. Whoever he used to be, he isn't my father. For all intents and purpose, my da' is dead." On the last sentence his voice cracked, and a tear slipped out from his eye.

Alice stepped forward and reached towards him. "Oh, Hatter… I'm not sure what to say." He pulled her to him as he began quietly crying. "I can't tell you anything to make it ok, but I can understand. I'm here for you." She stroked the back of his head as he continued holding her, not saying a word.

Finally Hatter stepped back, pulling himself together. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to spring that on you," he said. "I was attempting to hold that in, but… guess that didn't really work."

Alice laughed. "It's ok. You needed it."

"We seem to be getting a lot of our emotional baggage out early on, aren't we, love?"

"Mmm I guess so." She smiled and turned around, going back to join the kitchen. Hatter glanced back outside before following her. He was determined this was the last time she would see him like this for a while. He was supposed to be strong. This was the last time his father would make him cry.

* * *

Everyone was seated around the fireplace. Duchess perched on the edge of an uncomfortable-looking chair, looking for all the world like a queen. Charlie attempted to settle on the hearth while several of the Resistance's higher ranked agents lounged on the floor. Hatter and Alice had managed to snag a place on a small, ornate couch, and Alice was now sleepily leaning her head against his shoulder, attempting to stay awake.

Caterpillar walked in, causing everyone to snap to attention. Hatter tensed, but otherwise didn't acknowledge that his father had just walked in. Alice watched the man closely, trying to see if there was any resemblance between father and son. She couldn't see any connection between the two – Hatter must have taken after his mother. The more she looked, the less she saw that could possibly connect them. She wondered what Caterpillar had looked like as a younger man…

She snapped back to attention as she realized that he'd begun to talk. "… and so it's of critical importance that we get him back before further damage is done to Wonderland. I'm certain that if we get him away from Scarlett that he'll return to himself. The woman likely has him under some kind of spell or enchantment."

"Spell? Really?" The words had slipped out before Alice could stop herself. Everyone's eyes swung to look at her.

Caterpillar nodded. "Yes, my dear, a spell. Wonderland may have been held by the tea for years, but science isn't the only master here. Some have always possessed abilities beyond the norm, what you would call magic. It's really a kind of gift, but that is the simplest analogy. And the only way that Scarlett could have possibly taken control so easily and quickly is if she is quite a powerful gifted one. But moving back to the King – we have to rescue him soon or I fear it may be too late."

At that Duchess jerked up. "Too late? What on earth do you mean, too late?" Fear was evident in her voice.

"I mean that if Jack Heart remains under her power for much longer, he may not be able to recover full consciousness. If you thought that it was difficult to get the effects of long-term tea use out of a system, it would take even longer to get a firmly entrenched enchantment out. And in some cases it would be quite impossible. Wonderland would essentially lose it's king." Duchess' light skin went even paler as she realized the full ramifications of what Caterpillar was saying. She couldn't bear to lose Jack, especially not now. Everyone else in the room suddenly seemed alarmed as well now, with Hatter's eyes even widening.

Alice frowned as she tried to understand what was making everyone so anxious. "I'm missing something. Aside from the obvious, what would be the consequences of that?"

"Wonderland would… change," Hatter replied haltingly. There was obviously more to it.

"One of the many quirks about this wonderful world of ours is that it must always have a king," Caterpillar explained. "It's never right except for when a king is on the throne. The same family has ruled for ages. The Red King of the Kingdom of the Knights was one of their descendents. Luckily Jack and his father were directly related to him, or else Wonderland could have suffered the consequences then."

"And what happens if there is no king?" Alice asked.

"If a king were to die, and there was no heir to replace him, then Wonderland would become something else entirely. The king is the embodiment of everything that this place is – he and his descendents are tied to it in every way. If they all died, the heart of Wonderland itself would die. The land would sicken, the sun would disappear, the beasts would turn evil, and the hearts of all Wonderlanders would turn black. In essence, this place would become a living hell, the stuff of nightmares. I believe my dear, you saw what it was like when Jack's mother attempted to usurp control from her husband's family?"

Alice nodded her head.

"The greed, the hopelessness, the violence that pervaded this city – they would be ten thousand times worse, and they would spread to every corner of this world."

Well. That certainly sobered everyone.

One of the members of the Resistance, a young man with bright red hair, broke the silence and asked, "So what's the plan to break him out? That place has ridiculous security right now, and she's definitely not going to let the King wander about by himself."

"It's simple enough. We'll cause a large enough distraction that Scarlett won't be able to do anything but come out to see what the problem is. That's when one agent will grab the king and get out."

"And how do you propose to do that, exactly? Walking out the front door of the palace with Jack Heart in tow won't exactly be the easiest thing to accomplish."

Caterpillar smiled enigmatically. "That will be the easy part. Nothing a few mushrooms won't be able to solve. Getting in, I think, will prove to be exponentially more difficult. Only someone whom I can trust completely will be sent in. We'll discuss the details another evening." With a sideways glance at his son, Caterpillar exited just as suddenly as he'd come in.

Duchess watched him leave through narrowed eyes, then huffed. "Is that how he always is?"

The red-haired man chuckled. "Yeah, you get used to him. But we all best be getting some sleep now. I can guarantee that tomorrow will be a busy day. G'night, everyone."

Everyone dispersed fairly quickly. Alice and Hatter headed for a room that had been graciously provided by one of the women for them. She had insisted that Lady Alice would sleep on no floors while she had anything to do with it. The room was small, but it was warm and had a bed. Everything else didn't seem to matter – several days on Guinevere and the forest floor made this place feel like a palace.

Both of them fell into the bed, barely pausing to take of their shoes. Alice was surprised by how comfortable she felt sleeping next to Hatter, alone. There was no Charlie or Duchess or anyone here, nothing to give her even a slight mental barrier between her mind and the fact that she was alone in a room with Hatter. But she didn't feel awkward or afraid at all. She really had come to trust this man, as improbable as it was.

However, exhausted as she was, Alice had to check on something.

"You don't have to go, you know. You shouldn't feel obligated."

Hatter shifted to look at her. "What are you talking about, Alice?"

"To rescue Jack. You don't owe him or anyone anything. I would completely understand if you didn't want to risk your life rescuing him."

Several emotions played across his face. "I'm confused," he finally admitted. "What are you trying to say? I'm not scared to go, if that's what you're saying."

Alice sat up, alarmed. "Of course not. You're one of the bravest people I've ever met. It's just – well, I know you've never gotten along exactly with Jack. I just didn't want you to go just because you thought I might want you to…" She let her voice drift off, feeling awkward.

Hatter smiled crookedly. "Trust me, that wouldn't convince me to go on a hare-brained rescue if I really didn't want to. No, if I go, it's because I want to protect Wonderland. I could never risk letting that happen to this place."

"Oh. Right." They both fell silent. "I wasn't trying to insult you…" she started, but let the sentence fall off.

"I know, love. I know what you're trying to say, and I understand." He rolled over and kissed her softly on the lips. "Now we really should get some sleep," he mumbled, clearly close to passing out himself.

Alice smiled, beaming in the dark. "Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight, love."

* * *

A single scream alerted them that something was wrong.

Alice shot up in bed, completely alert in seconds. Hatter was already throwing his shoes on.

"What's happening?" she whispered.

"No idea. I'll go find out," he breathed, but before he could even stand up, the door burst open. The woman whose house they were staying stood there with panicked eyes.

"They've found us. Scarlett's men. No idea how, but they're here. We have to leave, now. Just take what you're wearing and get out as quickly as possible." She left abruptly, clearly focused on getting herself out.

Hatter swallowed and turned to Alice. "You might want to hurry." She nodded, pulling her boots on. Throwing on a jacket, she followed Hatter out the door and into the night.

The small village had erupted in chaos. A house was on fire near the southern edge of the town. People were screaming, running everywhere, trying to make sure they had their loved ones with them. Others were running towards the fire, eager to catch whoever was responsible. Alice wasn't one to run from a fight, but she had the feeling these were people she didn't want to meet at the moment.

They made it to the building where Guinevere was stabled without meeting anyone hostile. Hatter was getting increasingly nervous. The amount of the people they'd seen was decreasingly rapidly, and the periodic screaming seemed to be coming from different areas of village. Whoever was here, they certainly weren't suits. He wanted to be out of here as soon as possible. He found Guinevere and began to saddle her. He noted that Charlie's horse was gone. _Good_, he thought, _hopefully he and Duchess are both gone by now_.

While Hatter was occupied, Alice looked out the door carefully. She was surprised to see someone still in the house across the street – it was the same house they'd eaten at earlier. Surely they should be leaving by now.

"Hatter, I see someone across the road. I'm going to make sure they're ok," she called out behind her.

"Be careful, for god's sake."

She was already across the street. Alice stepped carefully inside. "Hello?"

A frantic young woman popped into the hallway. "Oh, thank heavens! My mother's sick and can't get up and I've been trying to get her to move but she's so tired and weak and – "

Alice grabbed her hands. "It's ok, I've got someone who can help you. Sit tight for a second. I'll be right back." In moments she was across the street, where Hatter had Guinevere waiting. "Hatter! There are people who need our help! A woman can't run out of here on her own, and her daughter is panicking. We have to do something."

His mind told him to leave the two to fend for themselves, but his heart wouldn't even consider it. "Alright, the old woman can ride with us."

Minutes later Hatter was helping the woman outside, and the crying daughter was hanging from Alice's neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. I don't know what I would have done without you."

Alice pushed her back. "Right now we need to run. Do you think you can do that for me, honey?" The tearful girl nodded.

Hatter touched Alice's shoulder. "Go, now. Don't wait for me. I promise I'll be fine, but you two need to get a head start. I looked about – you can catch up to Charlie and Duchess and everyone in minutes if you run. But you have to leave."

"Hatter…" A knot of worry began in Alice's stomach.

"No, I'm insisting on this one. You have to. For me, please, I can't risk this." He sounded so earnest and worried that Alice couldn't deny him. She kissed him quickly and turned to run, but Hatter grabbed her hand and whirled her back around. He crushed his body against her, kissing her for all she was worth. They broke apart, both of them gasping, and Hatter pushed her forward. "Go."

She nodded.

They'd just made it to the edge of the village when Alice heard a piercing cry. She stopped and looked around. She saw a small girl round a corner, crying and terrified. The girl next to her paused, but Alice shook her head. "No, go, I'll catch up." There was no argument with that order. Alice sprinted to the girl, who fell into Alice's arms. Alice tried to get some sense out of her, but the girl couldn't stop sobbing. She just kept motioning behind her. Alice looked up, trying to understand.

That's when she saw them. Two wild-looking men were ambling towards them. One was tall and obviously strong, his wheat-colored hair sticking out in all directions, a strange glow in his eyes. The other was smaller and darker. Both were covered in blood. Both of them looked absolutely lethal.

Alice shoved the girl behind her. "Run, _now_." She couldn't live with herself if she let them come after the child. Her brain was telling her that she would get herself killed, but she ignored it. It was too late to backtrack now, anyway.

She tried to best, but the two men proved to be too much for her. She got one or two kicks in, but within moments they had her on her knees, her arms held behind her.

The shorter one smiled humorlessly. "She's the one Scarlett wants. Remember, we can't touch a hair on her pretty little head."

The taller man frowned. "Not a hair? Well, that's unfortunate. I guess we've had enough fun for one night though, eh, haven't we?"

"Get off me!" Alice shouted, struggling against them. But the only thing she accomplished was having her arm twisted viciously. She cried out, eliciting delighted giggles from the second man. The first one grunted.

"Stop, before you get us in trouble with the hag."

Alice realized exactly how much trouble she was in. Sorry, Hatter, she thought, just before she felt a sharp pain in the back of her skull and fell into black.

* * *

Alice was going to get herself into trouble sooner or later. Let me know your thoughts!


	10. Chapter 10

So sorry for the long delay! I've been really ill for about a week and trying to keep up with my classes. I realize this is a short chapter, but new stuff should definitely be up again by this weekend! A big thank you to all my readers.

* * *

The night had finally settled. The majority of the Resistance had been able to get out of the village safely. A few had been killed before the alarm got out, but luckily people had moved quickly after that. Having dealt with these situations before, plans had been in place to move people effectively. After that only a couple of people had been injured. Duchess herself had a grazed arm from a bullet. Haigha hadn't really been aiming at her, but rather the man next to her. His aim had been slightly off. Duchess could only be thankful that he'd been careless. She wouldn't be so fortunate next time.

Hatter however was far from calm. He hadn't seen Alice since they'd stopped. Sure, the group was large, but he should have found her by now. Worry had him frantic now as he searched through groups of people for any sign of his Alice. But no one he asked had any answers for him. They either hadn't seen her or had assumed she was with him. Hatter was at his wit's end.

It was almost morning when his frustration got the best of him. He yelled, punching a tree. The entire thing shuddered, raining pine needles down on him. This led to more cursing. Finally he realized what he must look like to everyone else, although to be honest he couldn't care less at the moment. He sighed, leaning his forehead against the abused pine. Hatter tried breathing deeply for a few moments in a vain attempt to calm himself, but a small cough interrupted him.

He looked up, ready to tear into whoever was bothering himself, but quickly checked his temper when he saw the curly-haired moppet standing meekly in front of him. _Get a hold of yourself, Hatter_. Alice wouldn't want him snapping at a wee thing like this no matter what was happening. He sighed and bent down to the child's level.

"Hey, sorry about that. Do you need something?" he asked in the gentlest voice he could muster. She nodded but didn't say anything. Her wide blue eyes gave away how intimidated she was. Hatter swallowed hard as he realized how much they reminded him of Alice's own stare. "It's ok, I won't yell at you, love. Promise."

"I saw the lady you're looking for sir those bad mad men were after me and they were going to take me away from my mommy but the Alice lady she stopped them sir she stood right in front of me and told me to run and so I did but she stayed and I hid and they knocked her on her head and she went to sleep and they took her away they just left as soon as they had her and I wanted to say but I was afraid you'd be upset but she's a really pretty lady and I don't want anyone to hurt her." The words tumbled out in a rapid jumble, but Hatter was able to pick up the girl's meaning. And what he understood made his stomach begin to tighten in horror.

They had her. They had his Alice. The bastards had taken her back to that woman, the same one who was hell-bent on destroying Wonderland, the only home he'd ever had. They could be hurting her and there was nothing he could do to stop it. At least not from this far away.

He walked away from the girl wordlessly. There had to be a way to fix this. He had to go see his father.

* * *

Alice woke up. Her head throbbed, and she felt like a horse had kicked her in the back. Hearing someone next to her, she kept her eyes shut and tried to remember what had just happened. She could recall the mad rush to leave the village, and then Hatter and her had split up, and then she'd seen that girl – _oh!_ Everything rushed back. The fear, the darkness, the fight with those two freaks that she had lost. They'd definitely surprised her. Alice figured she was in pretty deep trouble now. Why couldn't she ever avoid getting caught by the insane rulers of Wonderland?

Sudden footsteps away from her and out of the room let Alice know she was safe. She cautiously opened her eyes and confirmed that she was alone. Alice sat up slowly, feeling the rush of blood from her head. Nausea immediately swamped her body. _They must have hit my head pretty hard_. Alice gripped the edge of the table she was sitting on, trying not to throw up. When she felt able, she looked around the room.

She felt a stab of panic when she realized that this was the throne room of the palace, the same one Hatter had argued with Jack in. Alice was trapped in the palace of Hearts, the same place that the insane Scarlett had control over. Luckily there was no one around right now. Alice climbed down from the table, cursing at her sore muscles. Hopefully she could get out before anyone noticed that she was gone.

Unfortunately those hopes were crushed as a woman walked in, holding a knife. Alice tried to keep her eyes on the weapon she held but was distracted her appearance instead. She was slightly taller than Alice, and her hair was just a shade or two darker, although there the similarities ended. The other woman, whom Alice could only assume was this Scarlett person, was less athletic and curvier than she would ever be, with a heart-shaped face and lips that looked like double-curved bows. Alice would have thought she was beautiful except for her eyes. The irises appeared to be perfectly black, like deep pits. Her presence screamed _dangerous_.

"So," she whispered, walking closer to Alice, "why shouldn't kill you right now?"

The question completely silenced Alice. Who was this woman? She swallowed and tried to find your voice. "You have no reason to kill me. I haven't done anything to you."

Scarlett laughed, but entirely without humor. "Oh, of course not. Why, you're an innocent angel, aren't you Alice? You've never hurt a soul, never made anyone suffer. You're just perfect, aren't you?"

Clearly the woman was insane. Alice tried again. "Listen, I have friends, and if they hear you've hurt me, I promise you that they'll make you regret it." She hated playing this card, but it was the truth. Alice cringed as she pictured Hatter if he heard that she'd been killed.

"Oh, trying to threaten me, are you, little Oyster?" She said the last word with venom.

"No," Alice said with a shake of her head. "Just a fair warning."

Scarlett didn't say anything for several minutes, just circled Alice. Alice tried not to meet those unnerving eyes but grew more anxious by the minute.

"So, you're what they want? You're what they're going to risk they're lives to get back? And what makes you think that?"

Alice paused before answering. "Because. There are people there that love me. They won't stop at anything to make sure I'm safe." The words shocked her as they slipped out between her lips. She wasn't used to having people other than her mother that she knew without a doubt would die for her. It scared her almost as much as it warmed her.

Scarlett's face twisted into a scowl. "Oh, really? Why you?" Her voice began to grow frantic. "Why you and not me? What makes you so different? Why would they love you and not me? You're nothing special!" Her voice rose into a shout at the end. For a split second, Alice swore that she could see purple and green swirling from the center of her eyes.

Scarlett seemed to regain some control over herself after a moment. "I won't kill you… yet. No, I need you. You're going to bring your little friends here because they _love_ you so much. And I hope you get to watch them suffer. In the meantime, you can rot away in the dungeon. Let's see if they love you as much as you think they do."

Before she realized what was happening, guards materialized from the door and began to drag Alice out of the room. She was too weak to even try and fight them off, and her encounter with Scarlett had scared her. This woman was no Queen of Hearts – she was far more dangerous. Alice just hoped that Hatter and Charlie really would bring the Resistance and find some way to get her out of here.

As soon as Alice was out of sight, Donia motioned towards a Club. "Give her some tea. _Abandonment_ should do the trick. That should make her feel perfectly comfortable here with us."

* * *

"They have her! They have Alice. We have to rescue her."

The leaders of the Resistance looked up to see Hatter staring Caterpillar, looking wild and panicked. Caterpillar gazed steadily back at his son. The rest of the leaders looked back and forth between the two, unsure of what was happening.

"Leave us," Caterpillar ordered to his council. He remained seated while his son stared desperately at him, wanting something, anything from him. As soon as they were alone, Hatter began speaking.

"Please, they have her. We have to get her now. There's no telling what Scarlett's goons will have done with her by now. Surely she's back in the palace. She could be in the dungeon. They could have injured her more than they got to me, and she's just an Oyster, she can't handle physical injuries the same way we can. Please, she'll die in there if we – "

Caterpillar cut him off with a hand. "S-Hatter, I know what you're telling me already. Scarlett has Alice in the city. We're almost certain she's been put in the dungeon, but no _physical_ harm has come to her. One of our agents infiltrated the grounds and discovered this much, but he had to leave before he was found out. Plans will be put in motion very soon, but there has to be a plan if this is going to work. If you go rushing in there today, you would die and make things even worse for Alice. If you love her, you'll listen to me."

Hatter tried to ignore how his father had almost called him "son" but stopped at the last moment. As his mind floundered for something else to hold on to, another detail came to his attention.

"Wait," he said, raking a hand through his hair, "what do you mean by physical harm? Why the emphasis on physical?"

Seeing no reason to lie, Caterpillar told him. "We believe that Scarlett has given Alice emotion tea. One of the dark teas."

"What?" Hatter's voice was unbelieving. "That would be… that would be mad. Everyone knows that stuff destroyed people."

"We have no idea what her motivation is, nor what the effect of our teas on an Oyster will even be. However, we must simply hope for the best under the present circumstances –"

This time it was Hatter who interrupted. "_Under the present circumstances_! She could be going mad in there and you're just sitting here, doing nothing!"

"No, Hatter. We will rescue Alice. Never forget how important she is to the Resistance. But we won't do anything until we're ready. It will only be a matter of days." Hatter turned around, a tortured expression on his face. Caterpillar stood up and walked around the table, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. Hatter flinch but didn't jerk away. "Our Alice is strong. I assure you she will make it through this and be more glorious than ever."

Hatter slowly looked at his father, emotions all in a tumble. He didn't know if he could trust this man, particularly not with Alice's life. Unfortunately, he didn't have a lot of choice at the moment. He would have to set aside his considerable differences with his father in order to save her however – he knew that much.

He left the room, but couldn't stop himself from telling his father one thing as he left.

"She's not your Alice."

Charlie found him not long after, brooding by a fire. The knight knew better than to ask him about the conversation with his father. The young man in front of him was compulsively performing hat tricks, just staring into the fire with a determined expression, his jaw set. As Charlie sat next to him, Hatter acknowledged him with a nod but otherwise remained silent.

After a few minutes, Charlie spoke. "Harbinger, I know you love the Lady Alice and that she loves you in return. I have to believe that you will both come through this alive and together. There is something of destiny between you two that no other person can destroy."

Hatter glanced at Charlie, tears trailing down his cheeks. "Charlie... these people barely helped last time. Alice was the one who saved us all. How am I supposed to trust them now with her?" He paused to swallow. "I… I don't know what I'll do if I lose her again. I'm not strong enough for that."

"You're strong enough for many things, Harbinger, but I do not believe you will need to consider losing her. Besides, you've got me on your side. Surely we can take care of the Resistance as well as rescue the lady."

Hatter chuckled. "You know what, Charlie? I just might believe you there." A satisfied grin spread across Charlie's face at Hatter's words. Studying the eccentric knight, Hatter felt somewhat better. Perhaps they really could do this after all.

* * *

In the palace, a man named Jack Heart woke up.

He gasped. He'd been able to break through to the surface a few other times in the past few months, but this time was different, he could tell. The other times he felt as if he'd just been surfacing for air before being plunged back under, but now it was as though he'd been dragged out from the water forcibly. This time was different. Perhaps he would be able to stay awake this time as well.

His memories of these past months were foggy at best, although he knew for a fact that this Scarlett person was dangerous and basically in control of his kingdom. Also, she was completely insane. She was slowly but surely turning Wonderland right back into the land of tyrants and fear that it had been for so long.

But there was something else, something that niggled at the back of his mind and demanded he remember. This was what had forced him awake, the thing he must fix immediately. Before he took his power back, before he got rid of Scarlett. Unfortunately at the moment he was drawing a complete blank. He couldn't remember much of anything after his secret wedding to Duchess…

Duchess.

The bottom of Jack's stomach fell as he remembered. Duchess was gone. She'd fled less than a week ago. As much as she clearly didn't trust what Jack had become, she had been unable to stop herself from saying goodbye to him before she left. She had told him, right before running, that her heart was breaking at leaving him.

Jack cursed as he remembered his only response. "Well, I certainly hope you are swift on your feet. The penalty for treason is death when we catch you, you know."

Not only was Duchess, his wife, gone, but Alice was now trapped at the palace. He could barely recall Scarlett telling him this earlier that day. Jack knew he had to help her somehow. All this was his fault. She should never have had to come back to Wonderland.

But for know he had to bide his time and pretend to still be under Scarlett's influence. If she found out he was himself again, she would kill him without thinking twice.

* * *

This chapter kind of jumps around a lot, but we needed to catch up with all our characters.

Just to clarify, Donia = Scarlett. Right now however she's really the only person that knows her true identity.

Reviews, suggestions, and any comments are welcome! Next chapter up soon.


End file.
